Push Square's Scores

  • Games
For 3,622 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 31% higher than the average critic
  • 8% same as the average critic
  • 61% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 7.1 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 68
Highest review score: 100 The ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection
Lowest review score: 10 Yasai Ninja
Score distribution:
3639 game reviews
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    It’s basic puzzling action that has been done time and time again, so it’s perhaps even more disappointing when you take all of its flaws into account. An absolutely atrocious user interface which looks like it has been adopted from a cheap smartphone game slows the experience to a crawl, while the panels you must place throughout the levels take forever to drag and drop. What's more, unintuitive controls make it tough to work out what you’re selecting on-screen in the first place. It turns a title which should be all about pacey movement into something which operates at a snail’s pace, worsened further by the short two-hour run time.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Golem is a game had a shot at being good if it launched alongside the PSVR. Fast-forward a couple years and impressive virtual reality titles are fairly common. This, depressingly, is not one of those. By the time we took the headset off, we were left with not just a feeling of disappointment, but also one of anger. Anger at the promise it once held. Anger that, despite its flaws, it did some things really well. Anger that it simply wasn’t good.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Help Will Come Tomorrow feels unwieldy and at odds with its approachable resource gathering mechanics. It's setting may convince some into a purchase, but for those after a new take on the genre, this experience fails to satisfy.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    There's a decent game buried somewhere beneath the muck, but scrubbing it off will take monster-like determination.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    If you simply can't resist the urge to use the Force against piggy Storm Troopers, then put that wallet away and buy the mobile version.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The Voice may have the advantage of branding and licensing, but in terms of gameplay it hits a bum note. The song selection is quite good and has quite a bit of variation, but the fact that only two players can sing simultaneously really detracts from the concept of it being a party game, and the Show mode feels no different to any other karaoke game option.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    What you end up with is a sci-fi exploration title that is, ultimately, dull. There's barely anything going on in Morphite. Once you’ve beaten the story and upgraded your equipment, there’s very little reason to go back to previous locations, and new ones are too similar to offer any meaningful extended play. Myrah’s adventure may pique the interest of genre die-hards, but the limited scope of the game makes it difficult to recommend.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Fairly decent handling isn't nearly enough to save Nickelodeon Kart Racers. Even if you ignore the squandered potential of a game featuring the network's biggest cartoon stars, this is a shallow racing game that underwhelms at every turn. Tracks have some nice details but aren't particularly imaginative, the presentation largely falls flat, and the whole thing feels undercooked. If you're a die-hard fan, it might be worth a look, but it's hard to recommend this to anyone else.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Slain: Back from Hell has one of the very best pairings of stunning visuals and amazing audio that you'll find on the PS4. Unfortunately, it's let down by a dull combat system and a horribly unfair level of difficulty, meaning that the game never picks up the momentum that it should. Wolf Brew Games had an awesome idea here with stacks of potential, but the complete package is hell to play through.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Downward Spiral: Horus Station neither succeeds nor fails in any spectacular fashion, and as such, it just sort of exists. This is a boring experience that doesn’t do anything truly unforgivable, but is also unsuccessful in offering anything worthy of talking about. Downward Spiral: Horus Station is a thing, but you really don’t need to experience it.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Rubbing shoulders with its cruddy combat and occasionally criminal controls is a release with a strong sense of humour and some razor-sharp writing. It's just a shame that this escapade fails to ever elevate itself beyond the properties that its parodying, serving up a sloppy first-person shooter that should have been so much more.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Stepping into the TARDIS is a cool moment, and there are lots of references and encounters that fans will love throughout the short runtime. Unfortunately, that's about as much substance as you'll find. The puzzles themselves are pretty easy, and the environments you find yourself in are underwhelming. Long load times break the flow between each location, movement is slow, and it's not very engaging to play at all. If you're a real Doctor Who aficionado, you may find some enjoyment here, but otherwise, this is a waste of your precious time.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The game’s dedication to conveying noteworthy and interesting information about Zodiac is commendable, though if you read every single thing you find, you’ll easily spend more than half of your playthrough just reading collectibles. Far too much information is isolated to the semi-functional menus, which in many cases don’t scroll properly or don’t bring up the correct information. Functionality in general is an issue, and it interferes with some of the game’s best features. The dream environments have a fantastic mood to them, between lots of fog, and low, rumbling musical cues. But the filters have a tendency to break, and the only discernible way to fix it is to fumble into walls until Zodiac catches you and you restart. And that’s to say nothing of the insane amount of screen-tearing that happens on nearly every texture for every frame, which the developer promises will be getting a fix in the near future. Ultimately the game feels like the first draft of a really great idea. Add some polish, and we’d love to see what it could become.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Blind is a wildly uneven, generally disappointing trip into virtual reality. Its main sticking point, echolocation, shines when used to its fullest, but more often than not, it doesn’t get put to any real use. In between each of the game’s good puzzles, you’ll encounter large stretches of walking, and probably a smattering of technical problems as well. But hey, at least it won’t take too much of your time. The ending impression with Blind that we were left with was largely one of disappointment. We hoped for, and expected, more.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The Little Acre is an adorable point and click adventure that sadly trips up in some fundamental areas. The story leaves a lot to be desired and the easy puzzles won't pose much of a challenge to most. Genre aficionados might want to give it a try, and it's a decent family friendly title, but we can't recommend it to anyone else. The lovely art and animations aren't enough to gloss over the issues, and we're left with a game that has acres of room for improvement.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    If you have to give Sumioni: Demon Arts something, it’s that it’s a beautifully flawed game. The bold art direction makes way for occasionally uninspiring backdrops, repetitive gameplay, and irritating music. The nonsensical story provides characters you don’t care about and a world you must save that you know nothing of. The developers clearly thought that the art style and touch screen controls were enough to make up for the issues, but they're not. This is a let down on nearly every level.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Considering that EA Sports took an extra year to craft NHL 15, the wealth of missing features here is inexcusable.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    It’s the repetitiveness that really hurts Tiny Troopers: Joint Ops – there’s just not a lot else to see beyond the first few missions.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Criminal Girls: Invite Only is a niche title at best, and it'll appear strange to any outsiders looking in. Despite that, the content isn't overly offensive in context, and it's handled about as well as you could expect.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Nippon Marathon is a curious multiplayer game that unfortunately falls prey to its own over the top nature. Some might enjoy the off-piste humour and Japanese influences, but it sadly limits the game's appeal, and at the end of the day, the presentation leaves a lot to be desired. The frantic gameplay feels too clumsy and disjointed to remain fun for very long. The janky nature of the game is part of the joke, but the joke isn't particularly funny in this case, and others have told it much better than this.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Mafia II: Definitive Edition could have been a welcome distraction during the quieter summer months, but in its current state, it must be avoided at all costs. While its narrative and writing may still hold up 10 years later, the long, long list of technical flaws and glitches overshadows its few accomplishments. And that's all it deserves because this is the worst remaster of the PS4 generation.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    A prime example of a below par dungeon crawling RPG. Kinda fun in parts, if not a bit basic and simple, the title has nothing that offers a real challenge and nothing that demands your attention. While the game starts off well enough, very little is added throughout to hold your interest, and it's a struggle to remain enthused about the lacklustre plot and the title's repetitive nature.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Just Deal With It is another disappointing addition to the PlayLink library. The online functionality will certainly be a selling point for some, but as a couch party game it fails to add any major draws that separate it from physical card games. It may do what it says on the tin, but that's about it.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Whichever release in the series you compare it to, Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate – Deluxe Edition will always come off worst.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    If you really boil it down, Late Shift is a movie with a plot that you can alter. Sadly, that plot isn't very good. Gameplay is minimal, and where The Bunker struck a decent balance, the lack of interaction here only serves to make the experience more of a slog. This can only be described as a complete disappointment.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Corpse Party: Blood Drive is more scary in execution than anything. Veterans of the series may be happy to see the continuation of its plot, but the game offers little to bring in any new fans. Those looking for a good scare would be better pointed in another direction, as the promises of previous games are not lived up to in this new iteration of the series.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    All-Star Fruit Racing is a relatively fun kart racer that has some good ideas, but it all goes a bit pear-shaped. Though it provides a decent amount of content both in single and multiplayer, the wavering performance, some iffy design choices, and a general lack of polish may spoil your appetite. If you're hungry for a simple kart racing experience on PS4, this may give you a bite of the cherry, but it'll sadly never be top banana.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Games like Project Root make you contemplate the futility of existence, and not in a good way like the philosophical musings of Postman Pat. It's not a bad game – not like Rambo or Ride to Hell: Retribution – it's just very, very boring. There needs to be a reason to play, and there's just nothing here to get excited about.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Harmonix Music VR somewhat justifies its existence. Having a drawing app available for PlayStation VR out of the gate is nice, but everything beyond that is kind of pointless. 'The Trip's' kaleidoscope visuals are great for a couple of songs, and it's a wonderful starting point for VR beginners, but the remaining two experiences are redundant and unappealing.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Island Time VR’s best attributes – the visuals and the voice acting – are unfortunately overshadowed by some very major flaws in repetitive gameplay, a very short running-time, and game-breaking bugs. If you are looking for a new friend, Carl the Crab will certainly suffice, but if you’re looking for a top-notch VR survival title, we’d suggest you swimming the other way.
This publication does not provide a score for their reviews.
This publication has not posted a final review score yet.
These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation.

In Progress & Unscored

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    • 89 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Guns feel great to shoot and Titanfall's movement system carries over to a point. It's a cohesive free-to-play title that has its heart in the right place. With a Battle Pass to come and a seemingly fair microtransaction economy to power it, Apex Legends has all the means to be a game we hear about consistently for the years to come.
    • 77 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Sniper Elite 5 knows exactly who it’s aimed at, and Rebellion is on target as always. The developer’s dense French sandboxes are hugely replayable, and look fantastic to boot. There are some sloppy gameplay mechanics, like the climbing and twitchy camera, but these are easy to forgive. A wide array of difficulty options mean both super-agents and rookies can eke something out of this title, and with the release accommodating so many different play styles, it represents a real bullet to our heart – or should that be balls? [Review in Progress]
    • 62 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    We're torn on Lost Soul Aside. On one hand, it's a very intricately made action game, full of interesting combat dynamics backed by an impressive degree of player expression. But on the other, it's a pseudo RPG with a really poor story, crappy characters, and a forgettable world. Right now, it's looking like a cautious recommendation for action afficionados, but we'll have to see how the rest of the package shakes out. [Review in Progress]
    • 89 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Dispatch could be something quite special, but it all depends on how much your choices actually matter in the long run. These first two episodes are packed with personality, wit, and flair. The script can be a bit too cute, and the style of comedy won't appeal to everyone — but we find ourselves eagerly awaiting what's to come. [Review in Progress]
    • 86 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Dragon's Dogma 2 is an absolute masterpiece in terms of offering a true sense of adventure. Fans of the first game shouldn't even begin to hesitate; this is everything that Dragon's Dogma wanted to be back in 2012, and it's utterly glorious at its best. But even if you're newly Arisen, this sequel stands alongside some of the greatest open world journeys in gaming — an unruly frame rate its only disappointing blemish. [Review in Progress]
    • 78 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Ultimately, we’ve enjoyed what we’ve played of Dying Light: The Beast so far. To a lot of people it’ll come across as more of the same — which it almost certainly is, to some degree. However, we think Techland has been smart to improve or alter small things to make it a better overall experience. It’s not as expansive as the second game, nor as original as the first game, but if you like cleaving zombies and jumping around rooftops, then this may just be the most refined Dying Light yet. [Review in Progress]
    • 77 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    It’d probably be reductive to describe many of MLB The Show 22’s improvements as the kind of thing you’d expect to find in patch notes, but it’s still somewhat true. The gameplay feels better than ever, and we really like the additions to March to October as well as the Mini Seasons mode in Diamond Dynasty. But while this is undoubtedly a streamlined, enhanced version of the already excellent MLB The Show 21, casual players will struggle to spot the difference – and, frankly, some aspects of the series are really beginning to tire.
    • 75 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    If you're eager to get started with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, then the campaign will serve you well until the multiplayer and online co-op mode unlocks on Friday. With many missions that break away from the status quo, it's not always just about shooting the bad guys. From high-speed car chases and crafting systems to the turrets of an AC-130, Modern Warfare 2 thoroughly entertains when it's offline. [Campaign review]
    • 80 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    DNF Duel is an approachable, explosive fighting game. Although it doesn't quite stand out from the crowd in terms of having an instantly recognisable style, it's great fun to actually play. Crazy combos, a cool character roster, and a nice selection of game modes makes for an appealing package. Once we've been able to put the title's online offerings to the test, we'll be updating this review with a score and additional details.
    • tbd Metascore
    • Critic Score
    It's every bit a Batman game made by fans for fans. [3-Hour Hands-On Impressions]
    • 82 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Project CARS 2 gives you loads to do and the incentive to experiment with all of its content, too. The title manages to tie together a dizzying number of vehicular disciplines, and it’s a lot of fun flitting from one to the next. A tight handling model and the freedom to explore all of the release’s content freely means that you’ll lose a lot of time to this motorsport marvel, but presentation shortcomings do take the polish off this package the teensiest bit.
    • 74 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Windjammers 2 is an almost perfect revival of a classic 90s franchise. The sequel strikes an immaculate balance between new and old ideas, and presents the classic sports gameplay so vibrantly that it’s hard not to be captivated by it all. There could, admittedly, be more meat on its bones – but it’s online, with the gameplay’s high skill ceiling, where the longevity will be found. We still want to spend a little more time testing this component, but our early impressions of the rollback netcode are positive to say the least.
    • tbd Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Disney Dreamlight Valley is delightful. The title is a brilliant life sim sandbox that already has a staggering amount of content, and has already begun outlining what comes next. If Gameloft plays its cards right, this game could be a mainstay on many people's consoles for years. Thousands of Disney-themed items and a robust construction mode pair with all the traditional life sim trappings executed at a high level to create a surprisingly excellent experience. Whether you want to completely redesign your town or just go fishing with Mickey, the game has everything in place to ensure you get the most out of your experience. A slew of camera bugs and the odd crash stand out as early access hiccups, and the framework for an extensive microtransaction economy is a red flag, but this isn't enough to stand in the way of having a lovely time. [Early Access Score = 80]
    • 75 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    If you're looking for more Mortal Kombat, Aftermath will undoubtedly satiate your bloodlust for a short period of time, but it feels overpriced for what it actually offers. Of course, your mileage will vary, but for now it's more of an already excellent fighter – just not much more.
    • 81 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Genshin Impact is well worth a download. Based on our time with the release, this could easily be one of the PS4's best free-to-play titles. Yes, there are a lot of characters and items locked behind the game's gatcha system, but what's here for free is undeniably impressive. [Hands-On]
    • tbd Metascore
    • Critic Score
    The Encore DLC adds a lot to Sonic Mania, in other words. Mighty and Ray are great additions, Encore Mode provides a totally fresh way to enjoy the game, and there are small changes across the board that make this fan-made adventure a more entertaining prospect than ever. If you've yet to play, or have exhausted the initial game's content, now's the time to jump back in.
    • 73 Metascore
    • Critic Score
    Meet Your Maker's core premise is very strong, but the game's aesthetic and samey levels currently don't live up to that vision. While it can be fun in short bursts, raiding Outposts can quickly become tedious, although building your own stages for others to try is more fulfilling. There's potential here, no question, but we'll have to see how it fares on live servers before we deliver a full verdict. [Review in Progress]

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